Adjacent surfaces of high performance components are sealed in many ways. For aircraft, the numerous component parts that must be adjoined to construct the aircraft must be sealed and protected, sometimes numerous times. Fillet sealing, gap, and pack void sealing, often in conjunction with faying-surface sealing, provides a barrier at seams or boundaries in the airframe against the passage of unwanted intruding elements and effects, such as, for example, fuel, moisture, pressure, etc. The barrier against moisture must be maintained to combat corrosion. In addition, with respect to aircraft, fillet seal thickness and adhesion, which is based partly upon the total contact surface dimensions, must be great enough to withstand relative movement of the sealed components. In addition, seals such as fillet seals and pack void seals must be free of voids, air pockets, pinholes, reentrant edges, contamination and disbands.
The criticality of maintaining adequate corrosion protection demands that current sealing practices often comprise using a faying-surface seal in conjunction with other sealing such as fillet sealing and pack void sealing, for example. Often the additional sealing is an extension of the faying-surface seal. Presently, there are a number of materials and methods for effecting this protection, e.g., use of wet polysulfide sealant, polyurethane coatings, etc. In addition, the practice of tooling or designing the faying-surface sealant squeeze-out to facilitate fillet sealing is acceptable provided the required size and shape of the fillets are followed and the faying-surface sealant is a fillet-type sealant (Class B sealant). See FIGS. 8a–8g and 8j. 
Current wet polysulfide materials used as sealants for aircraft have been acceptable. However, the known methods of applying such polysulfide sealants are highly labor intensive and require considerable clean up after application resulting in significant and expensive time delay in further manufacturing. In addition, the known sealants become hard and brittle with age as diluents are liberated from the sealant.
Along with the desirability of preventing moisture penetration along aircraft seals, the build-up of ice upon the wings and components of an aircraft is of particular concern in the aircraft industry. The lift generated by the wings, and thus the ability of the aircraft to become and remain airborne, is dependent on the shape of the wings. Even a small accumulation of ice upon the surface of the wings can have a huge aerodynamic effect and can dramatically reduce the ability of the wings to lift the aircraft into the air. Further, ice build-up along control surfaces of the aircraft can impede the movement of those surfaces and prevent proper control of the aircraft.
While there are a large variety of techniques used to control the build-up of ice upon the wings and other surfaces of aircraft, e.g.de-icing before takeoff by application of a chemical spray, which melts the ice from the wings, such deicing sprays are often toxic and harmful to the environment.
Another method of de-icing aircraft includes providing flexible pneumatic coverings along the leading edges of the wings, and supplying bursts of air or fluid to the wing through the flexible coverings to break away any overlying ice. Similarly, bleeding air from the aircraft engine and routing the heated air to the surface of the wing heats the wing and melts the ice. Finally, ice may be removed from the wing by providing high-current pulses of electricity to a solenoid disposed within the wing that causes the wing to vibrate, fracturing any accumulated ice.
Although the previously mentioned methods of ice removal are generally effective, they require the continuous supply of air, chemicals, or electrical power in order to rid the wing of its burden. It would be preferred, of course, to prevent the accumulation of moisture and ice in the first place, but past attempts to develop practical passive methods of ice prevention have failed, along with efforts to reduce moisture penetration, i.e. poor barrier to moisture penetration.
In addition, there exists a need for an improved approach for the protection from moisture penetration and ice build-up at adjacent surfaces of aluminum alloy, titanium alloy or composite aircraft structural components that occur at exterior and interior aircraft component locations, such as wing and fuselage skin panels, stiffeners (which include but are not limited to spars, ribs, stringers, longerons, frames, shear clips, “butterfly” clips, etc.), hinges, doors, etc., and the mechanical components attached to these aforementioned components. The structural components are preferably made from aluminum alloy, titanium alloy or composites. Furthermore, there exists a need for improving the delivery methods and systems of such coatings onto the aluminum-alloy, aircraft structural components, including relatively large, surface-area components. Commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 6,475,610 discloses such methods and useful coatings for improving the corrosion protection of faying surfaces, and is incorporated by reference herein as if made a part of this present application.
What is needed is a durable sealant material for use in sealing fillet seals and pack void seals, with long lasting corrosion-resistant, moisture-resistant, and anti-icing properties delivered to coat and protect adjacent substrate surfaces.